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Andrey Suchilin has long been regarded as one of Russia’s best guitarists and the progenitor of rock and roll in his country. It's a reputation that’s made his face and name famous to one degree or another in most of Eastern Europe. Like many celebrities, Suchilin’s notoriety makes it hard for him to find a quiet spot to wind downin while at home. To have anything resembling a vacation, he’d have to leave the east for a more exotic locale, like Pittsburgh or Gran Canaria, an Island off the coast of Northwest Africa. Last May, he opted for the latter.

After getting himself some sun, Suchilin hopped on a flight from Gran Canaria that’d see him through to Amsterdam where he’d change planes and make for home. There was just one problem: Suchilin had an odor coming off him that could drop a rhino a 50 yards.

Other passengers sitting near him on his flight complained. As his bouquet began to make its way throughout the airplane cabin’s recirculated air, some passengers passed out. Others puked. The commotion being caused by the stench issuing from the guitarist was such that the plane’s cabin crew decided that for everyone’s comfort, it would be best to confine Suchilin in one of the plane’s bathrooms. But, again, recirculated air, so no dice. Eventually, the plane’s captain made the decision request emergency landing privileges in Portugal: It was the only way to get the passengers the hell away from Suchilin. Landing early also afforded Suchilin the opportunity to find out what the hell was going on with his body. Read the rest

Can you spot the baby in this image? Researchers at the Universities of Cardiff and Cambridge found that volunteers who showed early signs of psychosis were much better at recognizing the baby than a group of people who did not have psychosis.

Here's a highlight reel of the adventures of a Moscow youth-group whose members physically place their bodies in the path of cars whose drivers insist on driving on sidewalks to beat Moscow's epic traffic. It's an inspiring couple of minutes of semi-suicidal bravery in the service of pedestrianism. (via Reddit) Read the rest

Hey, guys, I figured out where all of Minnesota's winter snow went. It's in Cordova, Alaska.

Since Nov. 1, storms have dropped 176 inches of snow and more than 44 inches of rain on the town, about 150 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Temperatures warmed overnight, and residents awoke to standing water because of stopped-up drains. The rain also made the existing snow heavier.

The warmer temperatures - about 35 degrees midday Wednesday - brought another hazard to the Prince William Sound community of 2,200 people: avalanche danger.

There's one road leading out, and it was closed though it could be opened for emergency vehicles.

"We have the National Guard right now using the standard shovel, and they're getting pretty trashed every day - not the shovels but the Guardsmen themselves," he said.

That's from an AP story in the San Francisco Chronicle. Read the whole thing to learn about the intricacies of snow shovel design, and why a standard shovel just ain't enough to deal with 176 inches of snow. Better ones are being airlifted in.

The image above—taken by the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management—gives you an idea of what it's like to dig out of a snow pack like this. I will admit, as much as I realize what a disaster it would be to live in Cordova, Alaska right now, there is a part of me (the part that is approximately 5 years old) that just looks at this photo and thinks, "I will build the most AWESOME fort EVER!" Read the rest